Tunnels
Sitemap Tunnels in Rapture * See also Watertight_Doors_and_Bulkheads * See also Construction --- --- --- --- --- Tunnels would be a natural thing to exist as part of Rapture. Alot of facilities and other spaces would be embedded in the bedrock. I have even suggested a Levittown type Suburb would eventually be built to handle Rapture's population expansion, and it would be built using the later perfected tunneling techniques to save on expenses. Various secondary utility systems would be reached by tunnels, which wouldn't warrant the full expensive Securis Door installation, so would have simpler, less expensive mechanisms employed (Note - on my Level Map Foundation levels, they use medium cost Submarine style (manual) bulkhead doors to seal levels used for utilities and drainage systems.) Tunnels would be built through seabed rock strong enough and solid enough to prevent easy flooding (Note- doesn't exist everywhere under Rapture). Such tunnels would be cost-effective when they had only minimal sealing required. --- --- --- What Do Art Deco Tunnels Look Like ? ''' : The 'Suburb' expansion of Rapture was done with the less costly Plasma Tunneling technology (instead of the early above-seabed buildings). I suppose while the rock is molten (with use of Ryan Technology plasma cutters and such), moulds could be applied to offer some aesthetic 'texture' to the basic construction ... A big element of Art Deco was repeating patterns of CAST tiles/decorations added/fastened to the basic ordinary/plain structure. Highlights usually being applied at portals and entranceways, intersections. Many more mundane 'tunnels', not accesses by the public, really don't need the wasted expense of decoration (Art Deco or otherwise) ---- Tunnel.jpg Oldsys.jpg Muck.jpg Overheader.jpg Tunnel5.jpg Smugglingtunnel.jpg MexicanSmugglingTunnel.jpg Tunnelz.jpg RaptureSuburbTramStation.jpg|transit station Tunnnnel.jpg Motunnelly.jpg Alternates222.jpg Oldconstructiontunnel2.jpg Trolleythruarcadia.jpg|Trolley from Arcadia to Ceres Green ProblemLightingAETracks.jpg|AE Tunnels being Lit were a problem - Thats more a job for that Big Daddy 'drill' Tunnel888.jpg|Tunnel Bore thru solid rock Tunnnnnel.jpg Smuggie.jpg TunnelBallZ.jpg|Perhaps those passageways through my foundation levels look like this SmugglersTunnel33.jpg|Airlock in some old tunnel (something which required it - under a river/whatever). TrolleyTunnel.jpg Modernarchedunderground.jpg --- --- --- '''Round tunnels offer a better structure to be self supporting (effectively arches top and bottom) as well as making use of a 'Boring' machine (big driller kinda thingee). Linings of reinforced concrete would be used to seal the passage (deep under the sea the water still works its way through the rock and cracks and such). Solid rock is largely self supporting. Tunnels in solid rock thus have much of their structural strength already provided versus a structure located in open water. As long as the tunnel is small the rock is more capable of being the majority of the support needed. 'Solid' is a relative term, but cracks/fissures which are small in dimension can be a big problem with the great water pressure at Raptures depth. Tunnel Solutions (where appropriate) don't require (as much) massive construction even at deep water pressures if they can make use of the great compression strength various rock can have. Locating rock which is 'solid', and of other good qualities, is the problem/task for building Rapture 'tunnels'. --- --- --- Rapture Tunnel Construction Process : First task is to survey, discover and verify an adequate expanse of a quality rock formation. Some areas in the volcanic 'crater' surface were deeply filled with loose debris and were not suitable. (These would already have been largely avoided for the 'Building' type construction, as those required adequate/stable support and anchoring of themselves into solid seabed). Intervening bad rock, when detected, would be avoided (tunnels can be built in any direction), or if required would be bridged with conventional heavy concrete tunnel construction. Best was large thick monolithic beds of solid volcanic rock which had been deposited in one flow from the ancient undersea volcano. The tunnels had a consistent 'standard' geometry (ie- a basic 20 foot usable interior diameter) which allowed semi-automated machinery to do a bulk of the work, including transporting the bulky waste rock away to disposal sites out in the Ocean (Earlier waste rock of this type (being solid/strong), was used as basic and filler aggregate for the concrete building construction -- another place the plasma 'fracturing' technique was developed). Prefabricated liner and other components could be efficiently made elsewhere in Rapture. A complex of interconnecting tunnels would be planned out to meet the requirements for that city expansion cluster. Sufficient extra space was allowed for likely 'bad' sections of rock which would not be used. The tunnels would be built progressively in segments, with transport for the growing tunnel construction being well planned (equivalent of mine tracks or the 'Tram' used by Fontaine's smuggling tunnel to Arcadia). Tunnels were circularly connected - always with two ways in (and out), and with many alternate paths through the tunnel network. They could be stacked into levels, with vertical tunnels for stairwells/elevators, and where needed tunnels could be sloped to serve as ramps. Cutting rock with plasma cutters (narrow extremely hot electrically-ionized gas jets (like a welding rig) followed with a water jet causes the rock to shatter. This allows you to cut out blocks to form the tunnel space with fair precision. (The technique had already been utilized to cut the huge basement/anchoring holes out of bedrock for Rapture's buildings - done from the city's construction start.) Work was often done at above Water Pressure before the tunnel segment was sealed (you don't want leaks/sprays of water fouling the construction process). The Rock around the tunnel space was heated and melted to form a single surface. Bore holes (another plasma technique) radiating out from the bare tunnel face would serve to find any potentially weak/leaky rock around the tunnel. If needed, weak sections could be 'annealed' via remelt using the plasma-heating techniques (solidifying any fractured rock around the tunnel space to assure pressure/structural integrity). Loose rock in the walls could be reinforced by melting and 'welding' the rock together and 'pinning' with melted and filled bore holes. The Newly created tunnel segments would be depressurized to one atmosphere, and for a period the bare rock face was inspected for any leakage or shifting - identifying any weak points. Detectors with pressure and sound sensors would be used during the 'proofing' period. Reinforced linings would then be added to further seal the inside (and reinforce any minor weak points). These would be well fastened to the rock facing and to the reinforcement rod/post filled borehole anchors. Sampling sensors (tap traps) would be left in place outside the wall shell to allow periodic inspections for new leak activity/instability. Emergency Pressure Doors were added at regular intervals to contain potential failure. (Done at many junctions to sufficiently Safety-Partition the tunnels.) Depending on use, additional safety systems would be added appropriately (ie- Residential areas got the most extensive measures). After the full set of the concrete and confirmation testing, the interior was built up to facilitate the living space. Utility areas were blocked off and filled with all the required conduits/pipes/vents/lines/machinery (again standardized and prefabricated as much as possible) . Interior walls/floors/false ceilings were built-up and furnished/decorated appropriately. --- --- --- Some larger 'Cavern' spaces could be built using a similar process, with the large volume expanses requiring greater interior support (more like the interior force distribution structures of the 'buildings' above). Dome shape designs would be logical, as they provide an 'arch' type support of the rock walls. Internal support pillars and ribbing would be needed for the larger open spaces. A network of transport tunnels would be built containing normal walkways (bicycle and electro-cart accessible), and others connecting into the City Tram system (which already had more than a few 'tunnel' segments built in the ~1950 Rapture Transit Trolley consolidation rebuild.) Utilities would be connected through the same tunnels. The city's tunnel expansion might be considered as the 'suburbs' of Rapture. Designed to fit the needs of an expanding population, and having some improvements evident from the first Phase construction. With the use of standardization to lower costs they might also be called Raptures Levittown (Levittown NY, 1947, was the first truly mass-produced suburb in the USA). Some long tunnels crossed longer distances between the Tunnel Clusters and the rest of the city. A few were even build as 'roads' sufficient to operate small automobiles (that trend was soon stopped by the Terrorism, Chaos and Ruin brought by Fontaine/Atlas). Sewer and seepage control systems would be integrated. The usual system of safety bulkheads would be done to protect from catastrophic flooding. --- --- --- --- --- . .